Outer Banks Campus
Outer Banks Campus District
ECU built and manages its Outer Banks Campus to further support research, education and regional transformation efforts throughout eastern North Carolina. The efforts are focused specifically on coastal areas of the state and, by extension, the Mid-Atlantic and east coast regions of the country. In 2019, ECU renewed its commitment to coastal science by creating a new academic unit called Integrated Coastal Programs, which encompasses the Department of Coastal Studies and the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), located on the Outer Banks Campus.
North Carolina’s marine-related activities are important to the state’s economy, both in traditional sectors like recreation and tourism, fisheries, hazard resilience, and marine heritage, and in emerging areas like ocean energy and marine biotechnology.
This campus encompasses 199.91 acres on Roanoke Island and its 83,791 sq.ft., $32.6M, Leed Gold Certified facility is home to ECU’s Integrated Coastal Programs and the UNC System’s multi-institutional Coastal Studies Institute research center. Led by ECU, in partnership with NC State and UNC-Chapel Hill, CSI focuses on integrated coastal research and education programming centered on responding to the needs, issues, and topics of concern of the residents of eastern North Carolina.
